Cloche and Dagger (12 page)

By the time Andre and I were done with the police, I was more than ready for a pint or three. Sadly, I’d left Fiona in the shop alone all morning and my conscience was refusing to let me take any more time away even to self-medicate.

Inspector Franks had made it quite plain that he would be stopping by the shop to discuss Viv’s whereabouts. I tried not to worry. After all, it wasn’t as if the two situations were connected. Perhaps it was the universe taking charge of getting Viv to come home. I would call my Aunt Grace and tell her what happened and she could tell Viv, assuming she heard from Viv, and then Viv would hurry home and all would be well.

“Is your cousin really missing?” Andre asked. We were once again in his compact car, crawling our way through the midday traffic back to Notting Hill.

“Her mother says she’s been in touch and her business manager—you remember Harrison from the other night—said she does this all of the time,” I said. “They think it is perfectly normal for Viv, which it is, but Harrison did admit that she doesn’t usually stay out of touch with him.”

“But you don’t think it’s normal?” he asked.

“No, I remember when she took off to go buy satin ribbons from a textile house in France once, and then there was the time she took off to Belgium because she became obsessed with a lace maker over there, but this, this feels different to me.”

Andre turned to look at me. His dark eyes were worried. “If there’s anything I can do . . .”

His voice trailed off and I patted his shoulder.

“You are so kind, Andre. I’m so sorry I got you into this mess,” I said. “What an awful morning.”

“Most especially for Lady Ellis,” he said.

“Indeed,” I said.

He turned onto our street and I was relieved to see Mim’s Whims looking just fine. Not that I’d had any doubts, but my anxiety was in overdrive.

“How is your stomach?” I asked. “Have you leveled out?”

“I got sick into a coil glass piece by Adam Aaronson,” he said. He sounded shocked and appalled. “I may never eat again.”

He stopped on the curb and I climbed out. “I’ll call you later.”

“Do,” he said. “If I don’t hear from you, Nick and I will be over later to check on you.”

“Bring wine,” I said, and he smiled.

I closed the door and hurried into the shop. It was empty, which, while not great for business, was good for me, because I was thinking I might need to go have a little cry to get myself together.

I was halfway across the floor when Fee came rocketing out of the back room with Harrison on her heels. I hadn’t seen him since our chat the other day, and I found that I was irritated with him for not being in touch with me.

“You might want to go upstairs,” Fee said. Her eyes were wide with alarm.

“What did you think you were doing?” Harrison spoke at the same time as Fee. His eyes were narrowed in anger.

“Huh?” I asked. I couldn’t process both of them at the same time.

“Too late,” Fee said with a sigh and she slipped back behind Harrison.

“Fee said you were at Lady Ellis’s,” he snapped.

He stepped forward until he was looming over me. Here’s a new discovery: I don’t like it when people loom.

“Yes, but—” I began, only to be interrupted.

“And that you were having that photographer from down the street take pictures of her for the shop’s Web site?”

“That’s right, but—”

“Are you mad?” he asked.

“No, but I’m getting there,” I said through gritted teeth.

“What could you be thinking?” he cried. “Don’t you know the history between Viv and Lady Ellis?”

I froze. There was a history between them? I glanced at the wardrobe. I swear the raven was smirking at me.
Oh, sweet Ferd the bird, please tell me it was a grade-school scuffle, a rivalry over the best pigtails. Please!

“What history?” I asked. I noticed my voice sounded faint, and I hurried over to one of the sitting areas before I toppled over.

“Simply put, Victoria Ellis hates Viv because her husband, Rupert Ellis, has been in love with Viv since they went to university together.”

“What?” I cried. This was not happening.

“Which part didn’t you grasp?” he asked. “Lady Ellis hating Viv? Or Lord Ellis still being in love with Viv? Or the insane fact that you’re going to put Victoria Ellis on the Web site?”

His tone was sharp and I might have taken offense if I wasn’t already completely freaking out.

“All of the above,” I said faintly.

“I didn’t know either,” Fee said. I think it was to make me feel better, but Harrison’s green-eyed glower was having none of that. He gave her a scathing look and she pressed her lips together lest she say anything else of comfort.

Lady Ellis hated Viv. Lady Ellis had been wearing Viv’s hat and nothing else. Inspector Franks had already remarked upon it. Oh, no!

Before the floor came rushing up to meet me and I fell face-first off the seat, I put my head in between my knees much as I had instructed Andre to do earlier.

This was bad. This was very, very bad. I’d had no idea.

“But why would Viv have designed a hat for Lady Ellis if they hated each other?” I asked from my crouched position.

“Lady Ellis hated Viv,” Harrison said. “Viv couldn’t really care less about Lady Ellis. You know how she is.”

I nodded, keeping my head down. Viv was the original I’m-rubber-and-you’re-glue girl: nothing ever stuck on Viv because she genuinely didn’t care how people felt about her.

I could only imagine what Inspector Franks was going to make of this. Maybe he wouldn’t find out. Maybe if Harrison kept his big mouth shut, no one would find out.

“Are you all right?” Fee asked. I must have looked pretty bad, because she pushed past Harrison to get a better look at me. “It’s not that bad. You can put Lady Ellis off about the photo being on our Web site, yeah?”

“Oh, no, it is that bad—worse actually,” I said. I looked up and found them both watching me. “When Andre and I arrived at Lady Ellis’s estate to take her picture, we found her dead.”

They stared at me. Fee’s mouth formed a perfect
O
and Harrison looked as if I’d slapped him.

“When you say ‘dead,’ you’re not talking dead tired, are you?” he asked.

“No,” I said. “I’m talking stabbed-in-the-heart, fatally-wounded dead.”

“A crime of passion,” Fee said. “It had to be.”

“Did you talk to the police?” Harrison asked. He looked stiff, as if his body couldn’t move because his mind was churning through the facts as I shared them.

“Yes,” I moaned. I pressed my forehead into my palms as I remembered. “And, of course, the inspector who showed up on the scene was Inspector Franks.”

“Of course it was,” Harrison said. His tone was bitingly sarcastic and it scraped on my very last nerve.

“Do you mind?” I asked.

“Mind what?” he demanded.

“Not being so damn condescending!”

“I would if you would stop mucking up every situation you find yourself in,” he retorted.

“How is this my fault? How could I have possibly known that Lady Ellis would be murdered?”

“You couldn’t have,” he said. His voice was scathing. “But if you knew anything at all about your cousin, you would have known about her relationship with the Ellises.”

“Oh, that’s ridiculous,” I said. “And I do know my cousin.”

“Really? I thought you said you two talked. I thought you said you were close!” Harrison accused. He was looming over me again and I really hated it.

“We do. We are!” I hopped to my feet, rising up on my tiptoes to be closer to his height.

“Everyone just calm down,” Fee said. She took a step forward, looking like she wanted to step between us but was uncertain of how to do it.

I stepped back from Harrison and blew out a breath, trying to calm myself.

“Viv and I are close. But I can’t remember some guy from her university days, and she never mentioned any issues with Lady Ellis.”

“You said before it wasn’t her style to care what others thought of her,” Fee reminded Harrison. “It’s quite logical that she might not have said anything to Scarlett.”

I gave her a small smile of gratitude and she nodded at me. I felt like I had at least one ally, and I suspected I was going to need her.

Harrison looked like he wanted to chew through a chair cushion. I couldn’t blame him. This whole thing was a mess. I could only imagine what would happen when word got out about what Lady Ellis was and wasn’t wearing.

I debated not telling them. I mean, maybe, the police would keep it quiet and no one would find out about the hat. Then again, I tried to picture Harrison if he heard it on the news and not from me. I heaved a sigh. Full disclosure seemed the only way to go.

“There’s one other small detail,” I said. “Really, it’s nothing, I’m sure.”

“Oh, dear god.” Harrison sank down into a chair. He rubbed a hand over his eyes. “Let us have it then.”

“When we found Lady Ellis, or more accurately when her housekeeper, Mrs. Stone, found her, well, she was naked except for one article of clothing.”

Both Fee and Harrison looked at me expectantly.

“The hat Viv made for her,” I said.

“No!” Fee said while Harrison swore under his breath.

“Were there any press there?” he asked.

“No,” I said. “I got the feeling the police were trying to keep it quiet until her husband arrived.”

Harrison ran both hands through his hair. I supposed that was better than wrapping them around my neck as I suspected he would have liked to.

“I need to make some calls,” he said. “Excuse me.”

“Would you like some tea?” Fee asked as we watched him stride into the far corner of the shop.

What I really wanted was a good cry, but I’d be damned if I’d do it in front of Harrison.

“That would be really nice, Fee, thanks.”

She patted me on the arm and headed into the back room. I glanced up and saw the bird on the wardrobe, staring at me as if amused by the disaster I found myself in.

“Oh, put a sock in it,” I said. I rose from my seat and followed Fee into the back. I may not be able to make a pot of tea, but I could certainly get a tin of biscuits out of the cupboard, not that I thought I’d be eating any.

Fee and I were standing over the pot while the tea steeped when Harrison came back into the room. His ruddy cheeks were redder than usual, which made his eyes an even brighter shade of green.

I noticed now that he was dressed as if he’d been at the office, in gray flannel pants and a crisp, white dress shirt. There was no sign of his jacket or tie. I noticed he had a broad-shouldered but lithe build without an ounce of fat on him. Not the norm for a guy who spent his days crunching numbers and certainly not for a guy who cleared up the pile of fisherman’s pie I’d seen him devour a few evenings before.

Then again, he struck me as being a bit of an A-type personality. He probably worked out every day and drank water by the gallon. Unlike me, who only ran if someone was chasing me and who only drank caffeinated or alcoholic beverages.

“I checked and the story hasn’t gotten out yet,” he said. “At least the media hasn’t picked up on anything. Scarlett, do you think your photographer is trustworthy?”

“Andre?” I asked. “Absolutely. The poor man barfed. Believe me, he’s not going to tell anyone about it.”

“He didn’t take any pictures of her, did he?” he asked. “You know, to sell to the tabloids?”

“No, he never even unpacked his equipment,” I said. I was irritated on Andre’s behalf. “I really don’t think he’s like that.”

“You can’t be too careful,” Harrison said. “Look, I have to get back to my office. If you hear from Viv, call me or have her call me immediately.”

“I will,” I promised.

“Do you have the number to my mobile?” he asked.

“No,” I said.

“Put it in now,” he said. It wasn’t a request. I took out my cell and added him to my contacts.

“If the police come by, call me, and I’ll come right over,” he said. “And whatever you do, don’t say anything else to them about Viv. Just stick to ‘I don’t know,’ all right?”

“Yes, sir,” I said. If he noticed my sarcasm, he didn’t say anything. He turned and left without so much as a good-bye.

“Man, he’s bossy,” I said to Fee. “How does Viv put up with him?”

“Well, he’s not hard on the eyes, now is he?” Fee asked.

“I hadn’t noticed,” I lied.

She looked at me and laughed as if she knew full well that I knew exactly how good-looking Harrison Wentworth was. She took the cozy off the teapot and poured us each a cup.

“Who do you suppose murdered Lady Ellis?” she asked.

“No idea,” I said. “Isn’t it usually the person closest to them? Like the husband?”

“Oh, that’ll cause a stir in the gossip pot,” Fee said. “Lord Ellis accused of murdering his wife.”

“Well, we don’t know,” I said. “I mean, as far as I know, it could have been the housekeeper. She was the only person there aside from us.”

“Why would a domestic stab her boss?” Fee asked. “Kind of a lousy plan to skewer the heart that feeds you.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe she was driven to it from being at Lady Ellis’s beck and call for years and finally she just snapped.”

“Do you really think she did it?” Fee asked.

I thought back to how Mrs. Stone had staggered out of the bedroom door and promptly fainted. No, I didn’t really see her as a suspect. I sipped my tea and absently nibbled on a biscuit.

“No,” I said. “Unless she has another job performing in a theater on Shaftesbury Avenue, I don’t think there is any way her reaction to what she saw was anything other than genuine. It was a gruesome sight.”

A shudder rippled down my back as I recalled seeing Lady Ellis’s pale naked body against the deep green of her floor. I had a feeling the image of her sightless eyes and her hand clutched around the knife that had killed her were going to haunt me for some time to come.